Conference call - call for Abstracts!
6th Sino-Nordic Women and Gender Studies Conference
AGE, AGENCY, AMBIGUITY
- gender and generation in times of change
Venue: University of Oslo, Norway
August 27-30th 2017
Registration: please use the registration form at
https://nettskjema.uio.no/answer/sino-nordic2017.html
This conference focuses on gender and generations in times of social and economic change, in particular economic crises, migration and environmental challenges. In China and the Nordic countries processes of industrialization, urbanization, deregulation, migration and globalization have had profound effects on gender and generational relations that display both differences and similarities. They relate to gender and generational aspects of family life, family-work relations, ageing societies, the situation of the younger generations, popularization of higher education, the expanding middle class and emerging precariat, the environment and sustainable development, and the increasing inequalities between different groups and classes. All this has far-reaching impacts on the conditions for gender equality work and academic research practices.
The aim of the conference is to understand more about the multifaceted impacts of modernisation and crises on different age groups (Age), gendered strategies to deal with the impacts/changes (Agency), as well as the uncertainties people are facing (Ambiguity). The conference invites papers on a wide array of topics related to gender, generation and modernization. Papers may focus on different aspects of modernization of everyday life, for instance, family, work, education, youth, sexuality, reproduction, body and consumption, or on wider issues connected to human rights, feminist activism, politics, environmental challenges and sustainability. We invite papers that address these issues either in a single national context or by comparing different contexts. The aim is to understand more about modernization and crises by comparing different parts of the world, however, individual papers do not need to involve this comparative dimension.
The development of Nordic gender equality as both social policy and research field, differs from the Chinese. Despite of the huge differences between the Nordic countries and China in regard to size, culture, history, political regimes and geopolitical locations, there may, however, also be common features to these processes and the tensions they create between genders and generations. Exploring these questions may provide us with important knowledge regarding the conditions for improving gender equality in different times, places and generations.A comparative view on conflicts, negotiations and changing relations between genders and generations may illuminate both general and specific traits of processes of change as well as what might be entailed in the concepts of modernization and crisis.
The conference aims at bringing together gender scholars from the Nordic countries, China and other countries who work with issues related to gender, generation and processes of modernization either in their own country, in other countries, or both. The idea is to utilize differences between regions and regional academic cultures to better understand the developments of gender relations and gender equality in each location, as well as to facilitate dialogue and exchange with a view to strengthening theory and scholarly practice. What can be learned about and from each other, and what can be learned about oneself from looking with other(s') eyes? The main focus will be on China and the Nordic countries, however, studies of other regions are also welcome.
Submissions of Abstracts
Abstracts should include: Title of paper - Abstract (appr. 150 words) - Contact details
(author(s), affiliation, postal adress, phone number, and e-mail adress)
Abstracts must be in English. They should be submitted to: Harriet Bjerrum Nielsen,
University of Oslo: h.b.nielsen@stk.uio.no
Please also fill in the preliminary registration sheme (see below) when you submit an
abstract.
Deadline: 15th December 2016
Keynote speakers
* Michael Kimmel, Professor of Masculinity Studies and Sociology at Stony Brook,
New York, USA
* Yan Yunxiang, Professor of Anthropology and Chinese Studies at UCLA, Los
Angeles, USA
* Pun Ngai, Professor of Social Sciences at Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
China
* Pei Yuxin, Assoc. Professor of Social Work at Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou,
China
* Lene Myong, Professor of Gender Studies at the University of Stavanger, Norway
* Helene Aarseth, Assoc. Professor of Gender Studies and Sociology at the
University of Oslo, Norway
Workshops, panels and cross-sessions
In addition to the keynote lectures, the conference offers parallel streams of thematic
workshops, roundtables and cross-sessions. We aim at a flexible session model where
different formats are used for different types of topics and discussions:
- Workshops will be spaces for paper presentations
- Roundtables offer information on specific topics and invites to comments and
discussion.
- Cross-sessions focus on comparable phenomena present in both regions but in
different forms.
Participants are invited both to submit abstracts to the workshops and suggest topics
for roundtables and cross-sessions. The structure of the final program will depend on
the abstracts and suggestions received.
Suggested workshops
* Generations of feminisms in activism and gender studies - how have gender
challenges been conceived and met in different times and contexts?
* Gender equality and human rights - different concepts and contextualised practices
* Gender, environmental challenges and sustainability in different areas, such as
consumption, transport and low carbon strategies in China and in the Nordic countries.
* Youth, gender, generation - what does changing gender relations in societies do to
the identities of boys and girls growing up? What generational change and continuity
can be discerned?
* Changing models and practices of masculinities/femininities and their connections
to market economies, work and family. Family practices in processes of urbanisation
and in the context of ageing societies.
* Body politics, bio politics, sexuality and reproduction - how do new developments
and trends shape pre-existing cultural ideas and practices of gender?
* Open workshops (for papers with other topics relevant for the conference)
Suggested roundtables
* Gender studies in China and in the Nordic countries
* Travelling theories/concepts - for instance, intersectionality, queer
* The Nordic model/Nordic gender equality politics
* What happens with gender relations under eras of post-communism, new socialism,
and/or neoliberalism?
Suggested cross-sessions
* "Left-overs": imbalances in marriage patterns in the form of left-over women and
men in China and left-over men in the Nordic countries.
* Do we want children? Voluntary childlessness in Nordic countries and Chinese
families saying no to a second child in China
* New class-structures? The increasing social differences in China and in the Nordic
countries
Other events
Several cultural events are planned in connection with the conference. Among the
plans are an exhibition of the work of young Chinese female artists, documentary
films on gender issues in China and the Nordic countries at Litteraturhuset, a
"Feminist walk in Oslo" organised by historians at the Centre for Gender Research at
UiO, and visits to Norwegian gender equality governmental institutions and NGOs.
Post-conference publication
Agreements to publish papers from the conference in special issues have been made
with the Nordic journals NORA and NORMA, and the Chinese journal Women's
Studies Forum. In addition, further contact between researchers will be enabled by
developing the newly launched website for the Sino-Nordic Gender Studies Network.
General information
* Preliminary registration is now open - please follow this link:
https://nettskjema.uio.no/answer/sino-nordic2017.html
* Final registration with fee paid May 1st, 2017
* Registration fee is 1000 NOK
* The conference is open to gender scholars both with and without knowledge about
China or the Nordic region, and China scholars, both with and without knowledge of
gender).
* The conference is primarily a research conference, but policy makers and activists
from China and the Nordic countries are also invited to apply.
* The conference is open to non-Nordic and non-Chinese participants
* Participants are generally expected to cover their own travel and accommodation
cost, but some subsidies may become available for PhD students. Priority will be
given to PhD students from China. (More information about this will appear here
later.)
* The organizers will negotiate prices with hotels in Oslo of different categories
(more information later).
* Dependent on funding, we hope to be able to cover most meals during the
conference (lunch, coffee/tea, welcome reception and a conference dinner)
* The conference will start August 27th at 16.00 and close August 30th at 12.00
* Deadline for Abstracts: 15th December 2016
* Accept of Abstracts: 15th February 2017
The language of the conference will be English
For inquiries (in English or Scandinavian languages), please contact Harriet
Bjerrum Nielsen: h.b.nielsen@stk.uio.no
For inquiries in Chinese, please contact Wang Qi: qi.wang@sdu.dk
Organizers
This is the 6th conference organized by the Sino-Nordic Women and Gender Studies
Conference Series (see the website http://nias.ku.dk/fudan/sino-nordic-gender-studies-
network) in collaboration with a Sino-Nordic organization committee. Members of
the Sino-Nordic organization committee include:
From Norway: Professor Harriet Bjerrum Nielsen (main responsible) and Senior
Lecturer Elisabeth Lund Engebretsen, both Centre for Gender Research, University of
Oslo, Professor Liu Fengshu, Department of Education, University of Oslo, Professor
Merete Lie, NTNU, Trondheim, Assoc. Professor Yan Zhao, Nord University, Bod..
From Denmark: Senior Researcher Cecilia Milwertz, NIAS (Nordic Institute of Asian
Studies), University of Copenhagen, Assoc. Professor Pauline Stoltz, Aalborg
University, Assoc. Professor Hilda R.mer Christensen, U of Copenhagen, Assoc.
Professor Qi Wang, Southern Danish University.
From Sweden: Assoc. Professor Kristina G.ransson, School of Social Work, Lund
University.
From Finland: Postdoctor Dr. Xin Liu, School of Social Sciences and Humanities,
University of Tampere.
From China: Professor Li Chunling, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS),
Beijing, Professor Min Dongchao, Shanghai University, Professor Wang Jufen, Fudan
University, Assoc. Professor Shen Yifei, Fudan University.
The Sino-Nordic Gender Studies Network
This network has existed since 2002 (see the website http://nias.ku.dk/fudan/sino-
nordic-gender-studies-network). The aim of the network is to develop transnational,
cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives on gender research, with a
particular focus on China and the Nordic countries. The network organizes triannual
conferences and in some cases pre- or post-conference PhD-courses. Previously, five conferences have been held alternately in China and in the Nordic Countries:
Shanghai (2002), Malm. (2005), Kunming (2008), Aalborg (2011), and Beijing
(2014). Approximately one-hundred Nordic, Chinese and other gender scholars have
attended each of these conferences, and several collaborative publications have
emerged from them (see details on the website).
Main organizer in 2017: Centre for Gender Research, University of Oslo
(http://www.stk.uio.no/english/).
Conference website: http://www.stk.uio.no/age-agency-ambiguity